Aston Martin is experiencing a worrying start to Formula 1 in 2026, and criticism is gaining more and more traction in the category’s paddock. Former F1 driver and current commentator, Karun Chandhok, described the British team’s performance as ‘embarrassing’ after the first three rounds of the season.
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The difficult weak start draws even more attention because the project had generated high expectations. The new car was the first developed with Adrian Newey’s involvement and also marked the beginning of the exclusive partnership with Honda, factors that increased optimism before the season, in addition to a millionaire investment made in new facilities, which includes a new wind tunnel.
However, the reality has been the opposite. The Silverstone-based team appears in the last positions of the grid in the first three rounds, alongside rookie Cadillac, and occupies the last place in the constructors’ championship, still without scoring.
Fernando Alonso finished the Japanese GP in only 18th place, one lap behind the leaders, in a race that marked the first time this season that the AMR26 completed the full race distance, after reliability problems in previous races, with both cars not finishing the races. Still in Suzuka, Lance Stroll did not finish a GP for the third time this year.
Meanwhile, rumors emerged about the possible arrival of Jonathan Wheatley, after his sudden departure from the team principal position at Audi. Chandhok commented on this speculation, but stated that the team principal position is not Aston Martin’s main concern at the moment.
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“It seems like there’s a kind of limbo. There are some rumors around Aston Martin, between China and Japan. It seemed obvious, because Adrian was filling that role on an interim basis,” Chandhok said on the Sky Sports F1 podcast. “But it’s clearly not closed. If it were, it would have already been announced,” he stated.
The commentator also believes that Wheatley should return to the paddock soon, but questions what role he would take on: “He is someone who has been in the paddock since the early 1990s. He is not done with Formula 1. It won’t be long before he reappears, but the question is whether he will find a high-level position that he deems suitable.”
Despite the speculation, Chandhok was direct in pointing out the British team’s real problems: “Honestly, Aston Martin has bigger problems than the team principal. They have been… disappointing is not the word. It has been embarrassing how far off the entire package is, due to problems on Honda’s side,” he added.
For the former driver, the solution involves resolving technical difficulties, especially those related to the power unit: “They need someone to solve the technical problem, and I don’t think Jonathan is necessarily that person. They need engine specialists in Sakura to get them out of this hole,” he concluded.
